If there’s one thing we love about college parking lot scenes like these two from the St. Paul University at the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario, that date from the 1960s, it’s the variety of vehicles in the parking lots. Most old downtown street scenes or shopping center street scenes can get rather monotonous – every suburban housewife driving a station wagon or a four-door – but them college kids could sure be counted on to drive something out of the ordinary, either because of their stark individualism or because that’s all they could afford. What do you see here?

Hi Howard. I used to think about that song whenever I washed up in Waterloo, IA. I wish you wouldn’t attach clips like that; girls like Agnetha Faltskog (the blonde) fill my mind with unclean thoughts.

….virtually all the domestic cars in these photos were “Made-in-Canada” variants. The US/Canada Auto Pact was yet to come….
…..due to prohibitive tariffs, there were only a handful of Bonnevilles imported in those years, but oddly enough this could be one……Parisiennes were Impala-sized, and this one looks a bit too long, but I’ll let experts (with better resolution screens) weigh in on that possibility.

Hi pfsm. We did that to a teacher’s VW. Picked it up, turned it sideways and carried into a space between his steps and the neighbor’s fence. You’d be lucky to slide a cigarette paper between the bumpers and the fence, or the steps. I don’t know how he got it out but he did. He only suspected us…

Hi Daniel…boy is this is a surprise..Im from and live in Waterloo all my life…made me smile when I saw this..looks like the student with the MiniMinor is parked sideways..and it kind of looks like a Sunbeam Tiger in the other shot…lol…what a small world..thanks..

….as others have mentioned that’s an Alpine, complete with the dreaded (but period correct) whitewalls……..ever since Liz Taylor drove one in the film “Butterfield 8″, Alpines suffered from a bit of a “secretary” image, but actually they were quite capable 100mph sports cars.

…..oddly enough, Liz meets her doom when her red Alpine goes over an embankment………hard to imagine James Bond owning anything but a Bentley (in the books) or an Aston Martin. …..must have been one of his many girfriends’ cars…….or he stole it……secret agents were always “borrowing” cars.

It is a Minx, the Rapier had no centre pillar. I think the black saloon which has been suggested as either a Ford Consul or a Peugeot is actually an Austin A50 Cambridge, you can just see a bullet sidelight on top of the front wing.

One car might be the same in ea. photo: the `57 Pontiac wagon. #1 contains a `58 Olds 98 in the back row, a `60-61 Comet, and a rather rare Sunbeam Alpine cvt. Woa..and a second Sunbeam Alpine in the second photo appears to have a hardtop on it! Plenty of Beetles, a la student budgets. I spot what might be a black English Ford Zephyr, maybe mid-late 50s? a cute little Metropolitan, a Morris Minor coupe, what might be a Peugot 403, A Hillman, and 2 `55 Pontiacs, side by side. More interesting imports in these photos that you didn’t always see here in the U.S.

Hi autobug2, now that I’ve composed myself a little( hey, I used to like ABBA) it looks like the newest car is the ’65(?) Pontiac, 4dr., followed by the ’63-4 Rambler(car of the year), and the poor Lark looks pretty forelorn. And I agree, the sideways mini is clearly the work of hooligans.

……these were probably engineering students, Howard, and this may have been an early experiment with a self-parking assist that went a bit wrong…….no big deal, they eventually graduated, and went on to pioneer “BlackBerry” in Waterloo
……those hooligans are now retired pillars of the community, with long, white beards and giant Audi diesel SUV’s in their 3 car garages……the hapless nerd who drove the Mini has a 10 car garage, and at least one Tesla.

Howard–there was a stage musical about 5 years ago–forget the name of it–that contained most all of ABBA’s hits. It actually was an amazing production done very well! Saw it in Chicago when I lived there.

The Breezeway is a ’64 (the pointed front fender can be seen) and it’s very likely a Meteor rather than a Mercury. This is either 1966 or 1968 by the license plates (white plates in even years during this period).

Looks to be a ’64 Meteor. For 1964 they were pretty much identical to the US Mercury Monterey save for the Ford Galaxie instrument panel. There was also a lower priced model devoid of most trim and with a Ford Custom interior. Canadian Meteors also used Ford engines ie: 223six, 352 and 390 FE motors.

…….you’re right, it’s virtually impossible to tell from this photo whether it’s a Meteor or a base Mercury 400, both Canada-only models…..the Meteor story of the early 60′s was really convoluted, but the last minute decision to revive the full size Meteor in Canada was a wise one……at only $50 more than a Ford, they sold an amazing 25,000 units, cutting into the sales of their targeted competition, the Chev-based Canadian Pontiac…….(you must have the James Mays book, I’ve only read a few excerpts…….accurate info on these is hard to find on the net, and there’s lots of errors).

…..just reread that Mays article……no 400 model Merc in ’64…….lineup in Canada started with the Montclair in hopes of moving the brand upmarket…….more chrome, so almost for sure you’re right, it’s a Meteor.

St. Paul’s University? Nope. It was St. Paul’s College back then. It was a denominational residential college founded and built by the United Church of Canada. It opened in 1962. I am guessing the picture dates from 1964 or 65. I see a 64 Rambler Classic in the top picture. The plates are black on white, so that suggests 1964, especially with the new sod.